The kinetics of reaction of copper with substituted benzyl bromides in dipolar aprotic solvents

Abstract

AbstractThe reaction of copper with benzyl bromides in dipolar aprotic solvents has been studied. There are no linear or other simple relations between ε, 1/ε, Y, P, n, and the rate of reaction. The activity of the solvent is determined by donor number (DN) in reaction under consideration. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the reaction of copper with benzyl bromide in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) have been clarified. Hammett plots of log (k/k°) vs. the substituent constant σ gave good correlations (ρ = 0.18, Sρ = 0.02, r = 0.961 in dimethyl sulfoxide and ρ = 0.21, Sρ = 0.02, r = 0.947 in dimethylacetamide (DMAA)). The structure of the organic group has little effect on the rate of reaction of benzyl bromide with copper. The Hammett ρ value also depends on DN. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 37: 496–501, 2005